Saturday, April 19, 200819 Apr 2008 09:22 pm Karl ClintonThe fusion of the Clinton campaign with the politics of Karl Rove and Republican neo-McCarthyism intensifies. You just can't help remembering the following sentence:
She has become what she once opposed. And if she wins, it will be a victory for Rove and all he represents. 19 Apr 2008 08:50 pm Who Else Does This?Ambinder on Obama's rally in Philadelphia:
VandeHei, Harris, Stephanopulos and Gibson need to find some more kitchen sinks to throw. Do they have any septic tanks on hand? (Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/Getty.) 19 Apr 2008 08:27 pm "Jew-Baiting"Attacks from within families are always more hurtful than those from the outside, and so I cannot pretend that Leon Wieseltier's latest personal attack on yours truly isn't painful in the extreme. To be called a "Jew-baiter" in the pages of a magazine I was once proud and honored to edit, and which I love and support, is an extremely wounding blow. It is also untrue and unfair. Here's why Leon accused me of such a thing. I was outraged last week when Bill Kristol publicly called Obama a liar about his own Christian faith. The reason I was outraged is because accusing someone else's sincere profession of faith a fraud is about as nasty a tactic as one can imagine, about as brutal an attack on someone's integrity as can be devised. It will be part of the neocon right's attack on Obama this summer and fall. Obama's Christianity - modern, moderate, inclusive, non-fundamentalist, African-American - is terribly threatening to the Republican strategy of defining Christianity as exclusively fundamentalist and heartland, and rallying voters to the polls on those grounds. If the Democrat is obviously a faithful and observant Christian, and not a Christianist, this strategy might come undone, their polarization made less potent, and their cooptation of religion as a political tool less effective. So accusing Obama of being a Marxist, and a liar, and a spiritual fraud, is critical to the success of the strategy. I think this is gutter politics, disrespectful, uncivil and, in Kristol's case, a function of total cynicism and bad faith. My phrase "a non-Christian manipulator of Christianity" is an attack on Kristol's cynicism, not his Jewishness. I agree wholeheartedly with Leon that, "if Kristol is wrong about Obama, it is not because Kristol is a Jew." It is because he is a cynic about faith, and a ruthless partisan indifferent to the truth when it cannot be harnessed to the wielding of power. My post was a protest against the manipulation of faith for partisan purposes, a theme that readers know I have been concerned with for a long time, and is the core argument of my recent book. It would apply to anyone outside a faith who has decided to use and manipulate another's faith for his own political purposes. "Non-Christian" would include atheist or Muslim or agnostic or, of course, Jewish. It would apply to my calling a professing Muslim a fraud or a practising Protestant a liar. It seems to me that in these areas of deeply personal conviction, a man's statement of his own faith - especially when it has been elaborated and explained by Obama in such detail - should be given the benefit of the doubt. And that should be particularly true for those who are not part of the same faith community. When you read the post (which TNR does not link to) this is clear. Here's the full context:
If I were "Jew-baiting," what would the "they" in that following sentence refer to: Jews? Please. The phrase is obviously a reference to Republicans, especially the most cynical, Rovian variety, which Kristol epitomizes. Continue reading ""Jew-Baiting"" » 19 Apr 2008 04:24 pm Dr. DeathThe Supreme Court upheld the use of lethal injection this week, timed nicely with the Pope's visit. In 1990 Susan Lehman profiled Fred Leuchter, a designer of execution devices:
Continue reading "Dr. Death" » 19 Apr 2008 02:36 pm The Undead GodAn excerpt from John Haught's God and the New Atheism: A Critical Response to Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens:
Continue reading "The Undead God" » 19 Apr 2008 02:06 pm Waste NotLisa Margonelli writes about needlessly lost energy. 19 Apr 2008 01:53 pm Virgins For SaleA grim story from India:
19 Apr 2008 11:35 am The View From Your WindowBarcelona, Spain, 1 pm. 19 Apr 2008 10:08 am Why Americans Hate The MediaFrom James Fallows's 1996 article:
Continue reading "Why Americans Hate The Media" » 19 Apr 2008 09:38 am Picture Day
Friday, April 18, 200818 Apr 2008 08:28 pm What Fundamentalism Is"Fundamentalism can be understood as a particular way of believing one's beliefs rather than referring to the actual content of one's beliefs. It can be described as holding a belief system is such a way that it mutually excludes all other systems, rejecting other views in direct proportion to how much they differ from one's own. In contrast, the a/theistic approach can be seen as a form of disbelieving what one believes, or rather, believing IN God while remaining dubious concerning what one believes ABOUT God (a distinction that fundamentalism is unable to maintain). This does not actually contradict the idea of orthodoxy but rather allow us to understand it in a new light... This a/theism is not then some temporary place of uncertainty on the way to spiritual maturity, bur rather is something that operates within faith as a type of heat-inducing friction that prevents our liquid images of the divine from cooling and solidifying into idolatrous form," - Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God. 18 Apr 2008 08:06 pm Why Blogging Is DifferentA reader writes:
I actually do love meatloaf. 18 Apr 2008 06:31 pm Mental Health Break IISeeing this post, Dan recalls the following: 18 Apr 2008 06:23 pm Eating MudTyler Cowen highlights the following paragraphs from the NYT's coverage of the international food crisis:
Useful perspective as we obsess about polls in Pennsylvania. 18 Apr 2008 05:47 pm Talking TaxesEzra thinks Democrats frame the tax debate badly:
But every tax takes money from people; until you concede that, you cannot argue that the benefits outweigh the costs. But I agree that a saner take on taxation would be less abstract. 18 Apr 2008 05:14 pm BHO-Jay-Z Mash-UpI asked for it. 18 Apr 2008 04:53 pm Why Brooks Is WrongGreenwald is much more critical. I do believe that the Beltway has missed a lot of what's going on out there. But I'm no less insulated than my fellow hacks - unless you count being out there in the blogosphere, and getting the constant feedback from you guys. 18 Apr 2008 04:52 pm Ayers BlogsA few weeks ago, Bill Ayers posted on his personal blog about his episodic notoriety. Ben Smith notes that "[Ayers] contests the notion — central to the objection to him, as opposed to other people who were bad actors 35 years ago — that he he has "no regrets" about bombings — but he doesn't exactly contradict his 2001 line that 'I don't regret setting bombs.'" 18 Apr 2008 04:35 pm The Ribbon TestPoulos makes good points:
Anyone who remembers the Seinfeld ribbon episode knows what he means. I have never worn a red ribbon. Some things you really don't have to wear on your sleeve. 18 Apr 2008 04:06 pm SexpelledBen Stein's next movie: (Hat tip: Radley) 18 Apr 2008 04:01 pm Bread And WaterThe Economist offers a brief summary of the raising grain prices, while Philip Carter speculates on the coming water wars. 18 Apr 2008 03:41 pm Face Of The DayPolice officers guard a cordon around houses in Comb Paddock in Westbury on Trym where a 19-year-old man was arrested under the Terrorism Act on April 18 2008 in Bristol, England. Avon and Somerset Police arrested the man after a covert operation and then undertook a controlled explosion after the raid on the suspect's home. Neighbours were evacuated and the man is being questioned at an undisclosed police station. By Matt Cardy/Getty Images. 18 Apr 2008 03:37 pm Information vs PowerJudah Grunstein considers the conflict in Iraq between freedom of the press and having a successful occupation of a defeated country. There is no easy way out of this conundrum in this new media era. Winning wars has historically meant controlling information in occupied areas, engaging in propaganda where necessary, and crafting a message to help counter-insurgency. But when you "liberate" a country in the modern media age, these things become impossible. And when you are fighting a war for democracy, it becomes harder and harder to justify repressing the press in order to free it. By the way, AP's Bilal Hussein is now free. Michelle Malkin called him a terrorist-sympathizer and enabler. Since his release, she has been uncharacteristically quiet. Can she provide the evidence she has for her claims that an AP journalist is an insurgent or direct us to the military sources who fed them to her? Is it too much to ask for the blogosphere to actually hold itself accountable for claims like these? Or the Pentagon for that matter? 18 Apr 2008 03:33 pm A National Tightening?Gallup shows Obama's lead decreasing. 18 Apr 2008 03:16 pm Cheap DNAA genome for a Franklin. 18 Apr 2008 03:01 pm Can Obama Go In For The Kill?It's part of the frustration on the part of his supporters and some scorn from the skeptics: in the debates and even in his advertizing, Obama doesn't seem to have a killer instinct. In the last debate, for example, on the one issue where he was all but invited to pile on in criticizing Clinton, on her Bosnia lies, he actually defended her. Clinton was not so restrained, in the same position. One viewer's take:
I just hope he doesn't go negative with McCain. A key to his appeal is his positive reason, which would be revealed as mere cunning if it did not apply to running against Republicans as well. 18 Apr 2008 02:43 pm Historical FictionPublius restages the Lincoln-Douglas debates with Stephanopoulos and Gibson as moderators. A snippet:
18 Apr 2008 02:33 pm Yglesias Award Nominee"Hillary, I know what to expect from her, which is eight horrible years, but I'm not so sure she's still a Leninist. Her husband has made so much money in so many different capitalist ways that I actually think they've matured and become good Americans. [laughs] No, there's a paradoxical statement I've just made. In other words, I think the Clintons probably started out as far-leftist characters in their early years, but they've been around so long in the power structure and now, finally, they've been allowed to make so much money and they've circulated with the rich for so long that I think she's a safe bet. In fact, there's an argument to be made that she might be a safer bet than McCain in that regard," - far right talk show host, Michael Savage. 18 Apr 2008 02:17 pm How Elitist Is Bruce Springsteen?Slate wants to know: 18 Apr 2008 02:11 pm Mystery MeatTest-tube meat is getting closer to reality. 18 Apr 2008 02:01 pm Fundamentalism and Culture, Ctd.A reader makes a valid point:
For me, fundamentalism is not just a distortion of faith but a negation of it. Faith, in my view, should not be blind. It should have the widest eyes imaginable. Nothing that is true should stand in the way of faith, unless one has already conceded that one is believing in a lie. And so science is not to be feared but embraced. And historical scholarship is to be plumbed not ignored. And debate is to be welcomed, not policed. It is only through this process of doubt and questioning that real faith emerges. 18 Apr 2008 01:59 pm Baracky!18 Apr 2008 01:51 pm Yes, We CanThe House music version from Beatport. Best yet, I'd say. 18 Apr 2008 01:47 pm Stephanopoulos, Then And NowA clip worth savoring. 18 Apr 2008 01:37 pm Tightening In Pennsylvania?The Rasmussen poll shows a very close race - closer since Bittergate and the Freak Show Debate. The poll of polls also shows tightening. I've said this for a long time, and you can look it up, but it seems to me that Clinton needs a double-digit win to avoid immense pressure to drop out. And in some ways, the nastiness of the campaign has both exhausted voters and disturbed super-delegates - which may lead to a collective decision to get this over with. We'll see. 18 Apr 2008 01:33 pm The View From Your WindowJuneau, Alaska, 7.30 am. 18 Apr 2008 01:02 pm Obama's LandingDavid Brooks makes some shrewd points about the Obama candidacy today. Yes: he has had the shine scuffed off him. Yes: his capacity to be a post-partisan unifier would have been easier if he hadn't been forced into some rather classic primary warfare. Yes: he hasn't been as deft as he might have been on the cultural issues. Yes: he isn't the messiah. Yes: a blanket commitment to quit Iraq so quickly may well have to be adjusted in office, depending on events and developments we cannot yet know. And yes, his pivoting off NAFTA has not been pretty. At the same time, his considerable strengths remain. He is the most persuasive and reasoned liberal on the national stage in a very long time. The inevitable initial swoon was always going to come down to earth at some point, and in some ways, it's better for the bloom to be swiped off the rose now rather than in September. Despite the caricature, many of us who want Obama to be the Democratic nominee are aware he doesn't walk on water, has a bit of an ego, has some iffy friends, and some ugly supporters. If the mountain were smooth, you couldn't climb it. The great benefit of a McCain-Obama election will be the emergence of two flawed, human, but basically decent men who represent what I think of as the best and most sincere faces of their respective parties. Continue reading "Obama's Landing" » 18 Apr 2008 12:45 pm Now: Boren and NunnThose two heavy-weights of the Democratic foreign policy establishment have just endorsed Obama. The momentum among super-delegates is now reaching critical mass. And I don't think even Hugh Hewitt will be able to describe Nunn as a member of the "hard-left." 18 Apr 2008 12:31 pm After The Surge
The first two options do indeed seem the most promising strategic options right now. "Conditional engagement," however, also means a credible threat - and intention - to leave Iraq if some kind of self-sustaining political arrangement - federalized or otherwise - is not reached. At some point, the McCain commitment to stay for a century if necessary and the Obama pledge to withdraw regardless will have to find a middle line. That's what the next president will have to figure out. The question is: who would best be able to do that, while bringing the country along with him? At this point, I honestly don't know. Except that Clinton would be the worst of the current three options. 18 Apr 2008 12:26 pm The Power Of ObamanationTremble at the force, ABC News! Or calm down, Chuck Todd! 18 Apr 2008 12:11 pm Reich Endorses ObamaThe news is no surprise. The reasoning more apposite:
18 Apr 2008 12:02 pm Breaking The NewsFallows comments on the debate:
Continue reading "Breaking The News" » 18 Apr 2008 11:54 am Moore Award Nominee"'I want to punch Clinton the person, not Clinton the woman.' These are not separable identities. I see this notion everywhere—that some violent urge toward Hillary Clinton isn't aimed at "Clinton the woman," but at some other magical version of her where her sex and gender have been erased, presumably along with the entire cultural context of womanhood. The semantic contortions invoked to extricate "Hillary Clinton the person" from "Hillary Clinton the woman" are an attempt to do an end-run around that context, to create a space outside of reality, where Hillary Clinton exists in some sexless, genderless limbo and people can talk about wanting to injure that non-woman without all the icky negative images injuring actual women conjures for most decent people," - Melissa McEwan. 18 Apr 2008 11:30 am The Pope In WashingtonYesterday's homily in full. The best coverage is here:
Continue reading "The Pope In Washington" » 18 Apr 2008 11:16 am Quote For The Day"I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but my will has been broken. I’ve realised that covering Mrs Clinton's campaign without explicitly stating that it has turned into a win-at-all-costs operation fueled by phony outrage, hypocritical proclamations and absurd notions of who is electable and who is not is an exercise in deliberate deception, and I can't do that. Perhaps I am weaker than my colleagues, but a certain fatigue sets in when trying to sort through it all. This is no longer a campaign based on ideas. It is a campaign focused on tearing down Mr Obama. We all know that’s her only shot at the nomination. I’m tired of pretending otherwise," - the Economist's blogger. The Clinton campaign has become a force of pure negativism, a black hole of no. Whatever she would do as president, we now know one important thing: it ill only always be about calculation. She has nothing left. 18 Apr 2008 10:48 am Mental Health BreakWatching a water-balloon explode in very slow-mo, courtesy of the latest in cameras. Hat tip: Wired. 18 Apr 2008 10:44 am Meanwhile ...... the president keeps sinking:
18 Apr 2008 10:33 am Yes, He Has A Sense Of HumorRomney explains his loss:
He missed one: He believed Hugh Hewitt had a grip on reality. 18 Apr 2008 09:53 am Conservative FascismHilzoy contemplates the meaning of senior officials approving torture:
But shouldn't we be discussing Barack Obama's ties to domestic terrorism? I mean: where's the sense of perspective here? 18 Apr 2008 09:50 am An Unjust WarParsing the Pope on Iraq. When you add the authorization of torture to the moral calculus and the empowerment of some of the most evil elements in Tehran, the picture gets even worse. |









